Undergarment



J. A. BOYSEN UNDERGARMENT 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 21 INVENTOR. JOHN fi-BOVSEN 5W A TORNEY f Aug. 30, 1938.

J. A. BOYSEN UNDERGARMENT Filed May 21, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. r9. Bo was/v Job N Patented Aug. so, 193

PATENT OFFICE UNDERGARMENT John A. Boyscn, Rutherford, N. 1., minor to Robert Rein a 00., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 21, 1937, Serial No. 143,900

4 Claims.

The invention relates to undergarments and particularly to that type of men's undergarment known in the trade as shorts.

Undergarments of this general type have hereioi'ore been constructed with two front and two rear sections constituting the body of the Earment with a fly opening in the front provided with buttons and cooperating button-holes, and in which a waistband of double ply has been secured to the upper edges of the garment sections by stitching along such edges. Such undergarments, by means of the fly opening at the front of the waistband, provide entry of the legs of the wearer into the leg portions of the garment.

In accordance with my invention, an undergarment for men's wear of the type known as garment sections, instead of being secured at their upper peripheral edges to the waistband and to the elastic insert constituting one portion of such waistband, are continued upwardly so as to form an elongated piece, and the waistband,

. constituted of two overlapping plies, is placed over such elongated piece at the top of the sections so as to embrace thesame which then will constitute a lining for the waistband.

A further object of my invention is to construct the waistband in such manner that instead of there being any stress or strain applied to the elastic portion of the garment, such stress or strain is applied substantially entirely at the point of each side of the band extending below the elastic insert. This is accomplished particularly by making the elastic insert of a less width than that of the waistband and particularly by cutting the material constituting the garment wearer, and eliminating the possibility, so usual with the present type of undergarments of this character, of the leg portions of the undergarment riding up upon the leg of the wearer.

A particular embodiment of'my invention is 6 illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a front view of an undergarment constructed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a rear view of the garment; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detail of the region of the point 10 of juncture of the waistband and elastic strip with the adjacent portion of the garment fabric proper; Fig. 4 is a view of the same region of the garment as that of Fig. 3 but from the rear, with a portion of the waistband cut away; Fig. 5 15 is a section on the line 55 of Fig. 1; and Fig.

,6, is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 in which similar reference characters identify similar parts in the several views, the garment 20 comprises assembled front and rear portions I, I and 8, 8, respectively, joined vertically by seams 9, and seamed in the usual manner at their lower edges at Ill. The two rear portions of the garment are joined by a seam ll.

Instead of providing the garment with the usual fly opening, one flap of which is provided with buttons, and the other with cooperating buttonholes, my novel garment has a continuous, unopened waistband, and is provided with a fly 30 opening in which one flap I2 is adapted to overlie the other, formed by the upper edge of the adjacent front portion 1 of the garment, the flap l2 being secured by stitching I 3 nearthe lower extremity of theflap to the fabric edge consti- 5 tuting the under flap of the fly opening. The .fiap- I2 is also secured to such fabric edge near the upper extremity of the garment portion by stitching M. In this manner, a substantial closure of the fly is secured without the use of 40 buttons or other closure means while giving the necessary opening to the fly structure when desired and returning the same to its closed position substantially automatically upon release of the flexing of the overlying flap I2. 45

The garment is provided-with a waistband l5, constituted of the same linen or like material of p which the body of the garment is made, such band, however, extending only substantially throughout the upper edge of the front sections 1, 1, the remainder of the waist-encircling element being constituted of an elastic strip i8, of

1 less width than the band IS, the two being joined at their contiguous ends by stitching l1, l1.

In accordance with my invention, the front sections I, I extend (as shown in Fig. 5) beyond the lower edge l8 of the waistband l5 and substantially to the upper edge l9 thereof, the waistband, constituted of two overlapped sections 20.

and 2|, embracing between them, the upper portion of the garment sections so as to have such upper portion, which is an elongated piece at the top of the body of the garment, constitute a lining for such waistband. As clearly shown in Fig. 5, the edges of the waistband are turned inwardly and secured to the garment material by stitching 22, 23. The lining strip is secured in place between the folded over sections of the waistband by stitching 24.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 2 an 3, it will be noted that the band I5 is of greater width than the elastic strip 16, and that the upper edge of the rear section is gathered to a considerable extent so as to form a multiplicity of tufts 25, the end portions 26 constituting a reinforcing section at the edge 21 of the waistband extending below the elastic strip It. This construction results in a distribution of the stresses and strains placed upon the garment when worn, in such manner that such stresses and strains, instead of being applied upon the elastic part of the garment, namely the elastic strip l6, are applied at points ateach side of the waistband constituted by the portions 21 thereof.

Referring now to Figs. 4 and 6, it will be noted that the elastic insert I5 is secured to the overlapping sections of the waistband l5, which straddle the upper portion of the rear section I of the garment constituting a lining for the waistband, as hereinabove described, by stitching II. The upper edge of the fabric of sections 8 is shirred, as at 28, throughout the extent thereof, being secured to the lower edge of the elastic strip I6 by a double row of stitching 29, 28.

In accordance with the novel structure of undergarment hereinabove described, I provide such an undergarment eliminating all buttons and button-holes and similar cooperating closure means both upon the body of the garment and upon the waist-encircling band. The advantages of eliminating buttons or other types of fastening elements are too well known to require exposition.

My novel undergarment is also characterized by longer wearing qualities than similar garments, not constructed in accordance with my invention, in that the strains and stresses, to which the garment is subjected in wear and in donning the same, are distributed so as to be applied at points peculiarly capable of withstanding such stresses and strains, namely at the regions at each side of the ends of the waistband, instead of on the weakest part of the garment, constituted by the elastic portion of the band.

Furthermore, the undergarment, as shown and described, with the cloth cut in such manner as to give a stretch of from 10 to 12 inches in the waistband, contributes, in great measure, to the facility with which the garment can be put on, permitting easy entry of the legs of the wearer into the garment. The garment is likewise so constructed by .providing an extra large cloth pattern for the leg portions that such leg portions are of sumcient width, providing ample space for the wearer's legs without having the garment leg portions hug closely the legs of the wearer and upon movement of the wearer, cause a riding upwardly of the garment upon the legs, but causing it, rather, to stay in position as a virtual lining for the trouser legs.

While I have described a specific embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that various modifications therein, particularly in the arrangement and configuration of the several elements, may

be made without departing from my invention.

I claim:

1. In an undergarment of the type described, assembled front and rear sections, an independent waistband of substantial width, running substantially throughout the upper edges of the front sections, said waistband being formed of a single piece of material folded over so as to have a closed upper edge and depending overlapped portions embracing between them a substantial part of the upper free edge portions of the front sections, so thatsuch upper edge portions constitute a complete lining of substantial width for the waistband, and an elastic strip of narrower width than said waistband, secured to the ends of said waistband by stitching, the composite waistband extending throughout the upper circumference of the garment, the upper edge portions of said rear sections and of the contiguous parts of the front sections being gathered so as to form a multiplicity of tufts, whereby in the area immediately below the line of stitching joining the elastic to the non-elastic portion of the waistband, at which area the inelastic portion extends below the elastic portion, there is apoint in the inelastic portion of the waistband which'relieves-the stresses and strains which would otherwise be applied to the line of stitching joining the elastic and nonelastic portions of the waistband, thereby preventing thedestruction of such line of stitching.

2. In an undergarment of the type described, assembled front and rear sections, an independent waistband section of substantial width, mmning substantially throughout the upper edges of the front sections, said waistband section being formed of a single piece of material folded over so as to have a closed upper edge and depending overlapped portions, and a second waistband section constituted solely of a strip of single thickness elastic fabric of a length extending from substantially one hip region to the other,- when the garment is' worn, secured to the ends of said first waistband section by stitching, the composite waistband extending throughout the upper circumference of the garment, the upper edge portions of said rear sections being gathered so as to form a multiplicity of tufts, whereby in the area immediately below the line of juncture there is a point in the inelastic portion of the waistband which'relieves the stresses and strains which would otherwise be applied to the line of stitching joining the elastic and non-elastic portions of the waistband, thereby preventing the destruction of such line of stitching.

3. An undergarment as claimed in claim 2, having a fly opening extending from the lower edge of the inelastic waistband portion downwardly, wherebyno buttons or other securing means are necessarily applied to the garment.

4. In an undergarment of the type described, assembled front and rear sections, an independent waistband of substantial width, running substantially throughout the upper edges of the front sections, said waistband being formed of a single piece of material folded over so as to have a closed upper edge and depending overlapped por-' tions and an elastic strip of narrower width than said waistband, secured to the ends of said waistband by stitching, the composite waistband extending throughout the upper circumference of the garment, the upper edge portions of said rear sections and of the contiguous part of the front sections being gathered so as to iorm n multiplicity of tufts, whereby in the area. im mediately below the line of stitching joining the elastic to the non-elastic portion 0!. the waistband, at which area; the inelastic portion extends below the elastic portion, there is a, point in the inelastic portion of the waistband which relieves the stresses and strains which would otherwise be applied to the line of stitching joining the elastic and non-elastic portions of the waistband,

thereby preventing the destruction of such line 5 of stitehh 

